It was announced in December, just months after the 133rd Test Squadron marked its 75th anniversary, that the unit would be relocated and given a new mission.

Now a force structure plan just released by the director of the Air National Guard “divests the 133rd Test Squadron mission located in Fort Dodge,” according to an announcement from the Iowa National Guard.

“We anticipate that this will result in the eventual closure of the unit and the Air Guard facility in Fort Dodge,” Jackie Schmillen, the Iowa National Guard’s director of public affairs, wrote in a statement.

“The Iowa National Guard is among a handful of states impacted by Air Force and Air National Guard force restructuring decisions which are driven in large part by the need to modernize and reprioritize our national defense capabilities and redefine mission sets,” she wrote.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A KC-135 Stratotanker flies low over Fort Dodge Sept. 17, 2023, to launch the formal ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the 133rd Test Squadron, which is an Iowa Air National Guard unit.

She indicated that no timeline for closing the unit has been set.

The 133rd Test Squadron has a two-fold mission: it tests new electronics before they are put in use by the rest of the Air Force and it provides air control services for military aircraft.

The unit was established in 1948 as the 133rd Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron. Its 75th anniversary was marked with a special event last September at its headquarters near the Fort Dodge Regional Airport.

In December, Schmillen said the unit’s comparatively small size was a factor in considering a move out of Fort Dodge. A squadron is one of the smallest units in the Air Force. She said at that time that it is unusual for a squadron to be by itself instead of being based with a larger unit called a wing.

Schmillen said the Iowa National Guard’s priority at this time is to make sure squadron members are “afforded options to continue their careers with the Iowa Air National Guard.”